Fewer families get back-to-school aid

About 1,000 applications are being made every day for government help with the cost of sending children back to school.

However, as first payments of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance are made this week, Department of Social Protection figures show 9,000 fewer households have automatically qualified.

In recent years, it has sent the allowance to recipients of qualifying social welfare payments without them needing to apply. However, the numbers getting those automatic payments are down from 114,312 a year ago to over 105,000 families receiving now.

They will get a payout of €26.5m for about 200,000 children, while another 5,600 payments totalling nearly €1.8m are also being made this week. They are going to families who successfully submitted claims for the allowance since applications opened on June 12.

Up to the end of last week, just over 2,000 applications had been received, an average of around 5,000 per week — or 1,000 every working day — in line with previous years. The department is processing claims within a fortnight of receiving them, and around 95% of those assessed to date have qualified.

The only change to the scheme since last year is the inclusion of the back to work family dividend as a qualifying payment, but over-18s attending third-level college are excluded since 2014.

A Department of Social Protection spokesperson said the spend last year on the allowance was around €42.5m, which was nearly €4m less than the budget that had been allocated. For 2015, the Social Protection Minister has a €44.3m allocation for payments of the allowance.

It is worth €100 for each child aged four to 11, and €200 is paid for those aged 12 to 22, with those 18 to 22 needing to be in second-level education to qualify.

However, the latest survey of back-to-school costs showed parents expect to fork out an average €166 on uniforms and other clothing for primary pupils, and €258 for those attending second-level. The Irish League of Credit Unions survey suggested an average cost per child of €560 when other gear, books and school contributions are added, and 15% of those qualifying for the allowance said it was insufficient.

The amounts payable have been cut since 2011, when €200 and €305 were paid for each primary school-aged, or older student, respectively.

These and other changes to eligibility have seen the budget cut from €90m four years ago to less than half of that being assigned for this year. The income thresholds for those applying for the allowance are unchanged this year, but depend on the number of children, or whether it is a lone parent or a couple whose income is being assessed.

For example, a two-child household can qualify with a weekly income of up to €593.40, or in the case of a lone parent the upper income limit is €439.90.